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Lady Josephine St. Claire
LADY JOSEPHINE ELIZABETH ST. CLAIRE (nee Schroeder) is a character on the series, Harpers Falls. She is played by actress Elizabeth McGovern, best known for her role of compassionate and caring lady of the manor, Cora Crawley, the Countess of Grantham on the series, Downton Abbey. "When I first heard about Harpers Falls," Elizabeth said, "I was a bit surprised about it, given I had just finished six seasons of Downton and had wanted to relax. Then I saw and heard that my beautiful girls Laura (Carmichael, Melanie); Jessica (Brown Findlay, Mikayla) and Michelle (Dockery, Lila) had joined the cast. (Elizabeth played their mother, Lady Cora Crawley on DA) I found out that the role of Lady Josephine was written with me in mind, and I loved the role. She is similar to Lady Rosamund Painswick (Samantha Bond's role on DA), in that she lives vicariously through her nieces and nephew, but she also maintains the loving nature that Cora had. Albert became such a huge fan of DA, and how much he appreciated the show, and how much he loved the Crawleys and everyone else. He then told me that he created Josephine with me in mind." Quincy's own royalty A regal, yet compassionate woman, with a lot of love to give and offer, Lady Josephine St. Claire shows that compassion and the respect that a royal title can give are not incompatible. Born in the US, and raised most of her life in the exclusive area of Newport, Rhode Island, Josephine Schroeder was very beautiful and was one of the best debutantes in that exclusive community. Her parents had been born in England, and they had emigrated there from England when the two older siblings were born. She caught the eye of her older brother, Anthony's best friend, Lord Randolph St. Claire. After a proper courtship, she and Randolph got married. They bought the old Brantliff Mansion in Quincy, Massachusetts, and they set up house there. Josephine also has a sister named Ena Yeovil, who is older than Anthony and Josephine, who is the youngest of the three siblings. Ena calls her Jo. Anthony had married a British woman named Lady Jacklyn Gregson, the daughter of the Earl of Cambridge, and had four children, Mikayla Schroeder; Melanie Schroeder; Lila Schroeder and Bradley Schroeder. He and his wife later died while they were living in London, where her nieces and nephew attended school. When Randolph died, he left her a lot of money and also the huge mansion in Quincy. She currently lives there alone, with a bevy of servants to take care of her; and she spends more time with her nieces and nephew. Her nephew, Bradley recently moved to Boston from London, and was married to a woman with two kids from a previous marriage. From what he says to his sisters and aunt, the woman, Amelia, is a shrew, and her daughter Alessandra is a spoiled brat! She has a lot more compassion for her step-nephew, Ian, who was far less troublemaking, yet was quite lonely, because he was also the only boy in a all-female household, and he bonded with Brad because of it. Brad is in the process of divorcing Amelia, and when he had left, he took Ian with him. However, the selfish woman snatched Ian back, and made his life miserable for years until Brad had him moved to their great-aunt Isie's farm in Yorkshire. With Isie's blessing, Brad and Josephine helped Ian sell the farm and with the profits, helped Isie for the rest of her life, and also allowing Ian to get some things he had always wanted, but was always denied. Josephine has also made a huge splash with the Harper family as well. Her grace and beauty make her an asset to any social setting. She is also knowledgeable with the etiquette of high society. Before they came out as Debutantes, Cathy Watkins; Courtney Sue Forson; Maggie Harper Atchley; Ashley Asbury Harper; Ellie Forson and Jolie Forson all learned about etiquette from Josephine and she was proud of how they went through their lessons. One of her hard and fast rules is that her nieces and nephew, as well as Ian, when he moved to Boston, join her every week for dinner at her house, or at either Bradley and Ian's large apartment, or the girls' home. That is their time or them to be together. Although she is the epitome of elegance, Josephine also loves to be casual, although on her Sunday dinners, she reigns in majestic beauty, a testament to the way she was raised. She has also had formal dinners with the Harpers. Also arriving in town are two of her old friends, Catherine Whitcombe and Sarah Fillmore. They often spend a great deal of time together and often have meetings for their various committees. After a few years, Ian moved to Boston, and Josephine welcomed him with open arms. Ian and Brad have a close father-son bond and the two enjoy things together. Recently, Josephine rejoiced when Ian became Bradley's adopted son, taking the name of Schroeder; and she became engaged to Ian's friend, James' father, Lord William Brantford. She was also pleased to hear that Ian's sister, Allie (formerly Alessandra) broke free of their dominating and cruel mother, to take on life on her own, with her new best friend, Cathy Watkins, who had recently moved to London. Category:Characters Category:Associates of the Harper family Category:Harper family allies Category:Schroeder family